Geology 2C Exam 1 Practice Test
Professor Bennington

1: Which of the following subjects was NOT studied by Darwin during his life:
1: barnacles
2: animal breeding
3: earthworms
4: coral reefs
5: chromosomes

2: Cladistic classification is different from phenetic classification in this way.
1: Cladistic classifications are based only on biochemical information.
2: Cladistic classifications are based only on DNA.
3: Phenetic classifications are based only on skeletal features.
4: Phenetic classifications assign species to pre-defined categories in a hierarchy.
5: Cladistic classification is no longer used by zoologists.

3: The boundaries between the different periods of geologic time are defined primarily by
1: changes in rock type.
2: deposits of volcanic rock.
3: unconformities.
4: mass extinctions of fossil species.
5: all of the above

4: Darwin spent 5 years studying barnacles for this reason.
1: he loved barnacles
2: he was working as a consultant to a marine biologist
3: barnacles reproduce quickly in aquaria
4: barnacles show a lot of variation within and between species
5: barnacles are the best example of discrete species types

5: The half life of a radioisotope is defined as
1: the time it takes all of the radioactive atoms to decay
2: half of the time it takes all of the radioactive atoms to decay
3: the time it takes half of the remaining radioactive atoms to decay
4: the time it takes for an atom to become half as radioactive
5: none of the above

6: For a sample of bone, the carbon 14 radiometric clock begins ticking at this point in time:
1: when the bone first grows
2: when the animal dies
3: when the bone is buried
4: when the bone is fossilized
5: when the bone is exhumed

7: The study of how organisms are related to one another in terms of their evolutionary history
is called
1: taxonomy
2: historiography
3: geochronology
4: geomorphology
5: physiology

8: Darwin's idea that only those individuals with useful variations would live on to reproduce
is referred to as....
1: survival of the fittest
2: natural selection
3: differential reproduction
4: enhanced reproduction
5: both 1 and 2

9: If continental crust is compressed and thickened, what happens?
1: the top of the crust rises to a higher elevation.
2: the bottom of the crust sinks deeper into the mantle.
3: the crust sinks to a lower elevation.
4: the crust subducts.
5: both 1 and 2

10: When plumes of rising mantle form beneath a continent, what happens?
1: magma rises and erupts.
2: the crust begins to stretch.
3: the crust begins to thin.
4: the crust begins to form fault mountains and valleys.
5: all of the above

11: If the entire history of the Earth is scaled to a single year, how long is recorded human
history relative to that year?
1: one week
2: one day
3: one hour
4: less than a minute

12: Subduction of oceanic crust beneath oceanic crust creates this feature:
1: passive margin
2: volcanic island arc
3: rifting zone
4: hot spot
5: transform fault

13: Reproductive isolation is important to evolution because...
1: it causes new mutations.
2: it prevents new mutations.
3: it aids in survival.
4: it prevents new species from interbreeding with existing species.
5: it allows new species to interbreed with existing species.

14: Prior to the 1800's the deep metamorphic and igneous rocks of the Earth's crust were called
1: primary
2: transitional
3: secondary
4: tertiary
5: quaternary

15: The primary criterion for grouping organisms in cladistic taxonomy is...
1: similarity in ecology
2: similarity in behavior
3: similarity in physiology
4: having a shared, common ancestor
5: living in the same environment

16: For reading material on his famous voyage of discovery, Darwin brought along
1: James Hutton's "Theory of the Earth"
2: Charles Lyell's "Principles of Geology"
3: John Playfair's "Illustrations of the Huttontonian Theory"
4: Alfred Wallace's "Malay Archipeligo"
5: John Grisham's "The Client"

17: On the Galapagos Islands Darwin observed all of these animals EXCEPT
1: wolves
2: marine iguanas
3: giant tortoises
4: ground finches
5: penguins

18: For estimating the age of very old rocks (more than a billion years), this isotope is the most
useful.
1: Uranium 238
2: Potassium 40
3: Carbon 14
4: all of the above
5: none of the above

19: This principle of historical geology states that sedimentary rock layers get younger from the
bottom to the top of a vertical sequence.
1: Original horizontality
2: Superposition
3: Cross cutting relationships
4: Original lateral continuity
5: Uniformitarianism

20: For estimating the age of very young organic material (less than 80,000 years), this isotope
is the most useful.
1: Uranium 238
2: Potassium 40
3: Carbon 14
4: all of the above
5: none of the above

21: Charles Darwin sailed on this ship when he made his famous voyage to South America.
1: HMS Endeavor
2: HMS Fitzroy
3: HMS Beagle
4: HMS Bassett
5: HMS Discovery

22: Captain Fitzroy agreed to bring Darwin along on a scientific voyage around the world
because
1: Darwin was a famous young naturalist
2: Darwin's father owned the ship
3: Darwin was an expert on South American birds
4: Fitzroy wanted a 'gentleman' companion for the voyage
5: Fitzroy needed a personal servant for the voyage

23: Why is the dry season in the Galapagos Islands the time when natural selection can be
observed?
1: This is the mating season for finches.
2: This is the time when food is most abundant.
3: This is the time when food is most scarce.
4: This is the time when competition for food is intense.
5: both 3 and 4

24: This 18th century geologist argued that the crust of the Earth had crystallized out of a
primordial ocean
1: Nicholas Steno
2: Georges Cuvier
3: Abraham Werner
4: Charles Lyell
5: William Smith

25: Adaptive radiations are triggered by...
1: the extinction of a previously dominant group of species.
2: the evolution of a new morphological feature, such as a wing.
3: the evolution of a better or more efficient morphological feature.
4: all of the above.
5: none of the above.

26: In order for two separate populations of similar animals to become different species, this
must happen.
1: They must become reproductively isolated.
2: They must become visibly different.
3: They must remain forever isolated from each other.
4: One must go extinct.
5: Both must go extinct.

27: This principle of historical geology states that a fault must be younger than the rock that it is
found to displace.
1: Original horizontality
2: Superposition
3: Cross cutting relationships
4: Original lateral continuity
5: Uniformitarianism

28: Rifting causes which of the following geologic features to form?
1: normal faults
2: basalt eruptions
3: large, sediment-filled valleys
4: all of the above

29: Why did Darwin often not bother to label from which island many of his finch specimens
came from?
1: He was lazy.
2: He was careless.
3: He could easily tell the finches apart from each island.
4: He didn't expect there to be any difference in the finches from island to island.
5: He only expected to visit one island.

30: The continent where Darwin spent the most time collecting fossils, animals, and plants on
his voyage around the world was:
1: North America
2: South America
3: Antarctica
4: Asia
5: Africa

31: The eighteenth century Swiss botanist who is considered to be the inventor of Taxonomy is
1: Carolus Linnaeus
2: Karl Marx
3: Nicholas Steno
4: Georges Cuvier
5: Antoine Lamarck

32: This geologist first realized that different sequences of sedimentary strata contained
distinctive fossils that allowed strata to be correlated
1: Nicholas Steno
2: Georges Cuvier
3: Abraham Werner
4: Charles Lyell
5: William Smith

33: Which geologic events can reset the radiometric clock within a rock?
1: metamorphism
2: melting
3: freezing
4: both 1 and 2
5: the radiometric clock cannot be reset

34: Besides knowing the half life, the most important piece of information for estimating age
based on radioactive decay is
1: the total number of daughter atoms present
2: the total number of parent atoms present
3: the sum of all of the parent and daughter atoms
4: the ratio of daughter atoms to parent atoms
5: the sum of parent atoms minus daughter atoms

35: To understand how the process of evolution by natural selection works, Darwin studied...
1: Galapagos finches
2: tropical guppies
3: domestic animal breeding
4: genetics
5: chimpanzees

36: Approximately how old is the Earth?
1: 4.6 million years old
2: 460 million years old
3: 4.6 billion years old
4: 460 billion years old
5: the age of the Earth is not known

37: The term adaptive radiation refers to this.
1: The cause of mutations in most organisms.
2: The tendency for new species to migrate to new habitats.
3: The tendency for old species to go extinct.
4: The tendency for many new species to evolve rapidly after a mass extinction.
5: none of the above.

38: The study of fossils and the history of life on Earth is called
1: archeology
2: geochronology
3: taxonomy
4: paleobiogeography
5: paleontology

39: Uranium-Lead dating is generally useful for determining the age of rocks that fall within which age range?
1: billions to hundreds of millions of years old
2: millions to hundreds of thousands of years old
3: hundreds of thousands to hundreds of years old
4: hundreds of years old
5: less than 100 years old

40: The plates that form the lithosphere of the Earth are composed of...
1: crust only.
2: mantle only.
3: crust and rigid upper mantle.
4: rigid upper mantle plus plastic asthenosphere.
5: continental crust only.

41: The 18th century plutonist first argued that the Earth was very ancient and had experienced
repeated cycles of rock formation, upheaval, and erosion
1: Nicholas Steno
2: Georges Cuvier
3: Abraham Werner
4: Charles Lyell
5: James Hutton

42: The 17th century zoologist who wrote a dissertation on how objects become entombed in
rock was called
1: Nicholas Steno
2: Georges Cuvier
3: Abraham Werner
4: James Hutton
5: William Smith

43: Radioisopes of uranium and thorium eventually decay into stable isotopes of which element?
1: plutonium
2: iron
3: carbon
4: zinc
5: lead

44: To develop his theory of evolution by natural selection, Darwin studied this.
1: a population of wild birds in England
2: the breeding of domesticated animals such as pigeons
3: the finches he collected in the Galapagos
4: barnacles
5: both 2 and 4

45: Prior to the 1700's, most information about the history of the Earth came from where?
1: the Judeo-Christian bible
2: the writings of Greek philosophers
3: Chinese scientists
4: both 1 and 2
5: both 2 and 3

46: If some of the daughter isotope in a rock sample is able to leak out over time, how will this effect the measured age of the sample?
1: the rock will appear to be younger than it really is
2: the rock will appear to be older than it really is
3: the measured age will not be affected

47: Why did Darwin only collect two of each species of finch in the Galapagos islands?
1: He was lazy.
2: He didn't have enough resources or room to collect more.
3: He didn't want to deplete the populations by killing too many finches.
4: He didn't expect the members of a single species to differ from type.

48: Why are small variations within a species important in Darwin's theory of evolution?
1: They affect the fertility of individuals.
2: Tthey determine the mating compatibility of different individuals.
3: Under the right circumstances, they make the difference between survival and death.
4: Small variations are not important, only large variations.
5: Darwin does not consider variation in his theory of evolution.

49: The 18th century vertebrate anatomist who conclusively demostrated that some fossil
elephant species were extinct was
1: Nicholas Steno
2: Georges Cuvier
3: Abraham Werner
4: Charles Lyell
5: William Smith

50: Which method of classification is better at showing evolutionary relationships among
organisms?
1: cladistics
2: phenetics
3: both are equally effective
4: neither show evolutionary relationships

51: Which of the following conditions will alter the half life of a radioisotope?
1: high pressure
2: high temperature
3: exposure to oxygen
4: exposure to water
5: none of the above

52: Radiometric dating is useful to geologists because it provides...
1: the relative age of rock layers
2: the depth of burial of rock layers
3: the absolute age of a rock sample
4: the time elapsed since a rock sample was exposed by erosion
5: the original orientation of rock layers

Answer Key
1 5
2 4
3 4
4 4
5 3
6 2
7 1
8 5
9 5
10 5
11 4
12 2
13 4
14 1
15 4
16 2
17 1
18 1
19 2
20 3
21 3
22 4
23 5
24 3
25 4
26 1
27 3
28 4
29 4
30 2
31 1
32 5
33 4
34 4
35 3
36 3
37 4
38 5
39 1
40 3
41 5
42 1
43 5
44 5
45 4
46 1
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51 5
52 3